Another Alternate Cinderella Story
by Someonerandome
Summary: Inspired by the song 'Cinderella' An Alternate Fairytale thing. In this story, Cinderella has a sister that isn't ust going to sitback and wait for a prince to rescue her.
1. Chapter 1

_**A CINDERELLA STORY**_

_Once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden by the name of-_

_HOLD IT! Now that line is SO old it creaks!_

_Oh, and I suppose you could tell the story better?_

_Duh! I was there when one of these happened. __**You're**__ just reading out of a book! _

_Well go ahead then. YOU tell it._

_I will. Now can we get out of these dumb italics please?!_

Thank you! Okay, now for the story.

I guess the tale begins when Ella and I were born. Me and my sister are twins. I was born first, healthy, loud and kicking!(_That's what I'm told anyway_) Then came my sister. She didn't have such an easy time coming into the world. First of all, the cord that linked us to our mother in the womb was wrapped around her neck. They had to cut it off and pound her chest for her to breathe(_Once again, sources. I don't actually remember or anything weird like that_!) Our mother died three days after we were born. Our father was grief stricken. After that we were even more important to him.

Even though I suppose were supposed to be identical, I've always been bigger than Ella, don't know why. Could be all of my "boyish" activities. You know: riding, jousting, weapons practice, riding, hawking, oh yeah, did I mention riding? All the fun stuff basically. However, once you get past the height and muscle I have on her, we do look alike. Both of us have thick red-gold hair, (_Though_ _mine is a little more red than hers which believe me has given the gossiping grannies no end of pleasure to point out_) and blue-green eyes set against creamy skin.

Me and my sister are very different personality wise as well. You see while the servants say "Oh that Crystal. She has the name o a gem, but she's far too spirited for any good man to want her" (_Oh and for the record, I hate people stressing about how I'm named after some pretty rock! Everybody I like, or frankly is scared of my rath, just calls me Chrys_) they'd say "Oh isn't that Ellenor lovely! She's so beautiful and polite and proper. She'll find herself a wonderful husbund!" Honestly. That was all those women ever talked about. Anyway, while I was out doing the fun and "boyish" things wearing a comfy tunic and breeches, my sister was inside dressed in fine gowns learning lady-like things such as fine dancing, etiquite, fashion, need I go on? The two things we could agree on in that manner were animals and knowledge. We both loved animals and enjoyed learning. However, even there we varied. I'm into the maths, sciences and english literature, and she's into art, music and also english, but romantic _poetry_. We were also both really into helping people.

Oh yeah other than that we were complete opposites, but we still loved each other a _lot_. So for the first 11 years or so of our life was pretty happy. Then **They **came.

My wonderful father thought that I needed someone to "tame" me and that Ella needed a real "mother" so he went off and married a fellow widower like himself, or almost anyway. Madame Laea (_Don't be fooled by the sweet gentle name, she's trouble_!) also had two daughters. One a year older and one the same age as us. Annalise was the elder one. She had honey-blond hair and piercing icy-blue eyes. She was maybe a little too thin and pale, in my opinion, to look 100 healthy, but then again, that seemed to be the style. Her sister, Ruby had auburn hair that she went to great lengths with and was a little chubbier than her sister. Both were chaniving, jelous, spoiled and neighter of them were the sharpest tool in the shed eigther. However, they weren't the ugliest of people appearence-wise. No where near Ella's quiet beauty, but not _that_ bad, just to be fair.

Madame may also have been beautiful in her day. With high cheek bones, steely black eyes and flowing dark hair with plenty of grey in it, who knows.

Anyway we all lived together for a year. From the very beginning I was suspicious of those three and their evil, and I mean _evil, _little pekeniese Lucious, or Lutty as I like to call him. The little devil terrorized the cat, the canaries and sparrows Ella was so fond of as well as the little mice, attacked my Hawk, nipped at my Horse's heels and framed my collie Angel for everything he could! The hags weren't much better. In the year before my Father "mysteriously" died of an illness, he began to spend more of his time and affections on our sstep-family and ignored Ella and I more and more. Now while our stepmother and sisters started out plesant enough, they soon showed their true nature the moment our father was pronounced dead...

We were waiting outside for the Doctor to come out of Father's room. When he did so he was shaking his head.

"You can go see him, but I'm afraid he's not got much time." Ella ran in as fast as she could and knelt down beside Father's bed.

"Elenor" he rasped as he took her small hand in his own shakily.

"I am here father." she said. He smiled.

"I am glad my little dove. Is your sister there too?"

"Yes father" I replied.

"Good. Now, I want to see my wife and other daughters." Our step family pushed us out of the way and I held Ella as she weeped silently into my shoulder and watched in disgus how our dad rattled on with his words of love and tenderness towards his new wife and "other daughters", while completely forgetting the ones who had taken care of him and loved him long before they came. I doubted they even cared. Stepmother was crying crocadile tears, I just knew it and Ruby and Annalise were terrible actors.

Then father heaved his last breath and closed his eyes. He was gone.

Turns out dear old Dad had left no mention of his two biological daughters in the will except for us to have what we were left from our mother, oh yeah, and that we belonged to Stepmother now. Well, madame completely ignored the first part, taking whatever our mother had left us from us that we couldn't hide from her, however, she followed the second part religiously and **to the letter.**

"Now" she said to us the day after the will was read, "Whilst you two live under _my _roof, you will earn your keep!"

"What? B-but Stepmother why?" Ella stammered quietly as Ruby and Annelise thrust a pile of rags at us.

"Because you are mine now." Stepmother purred. "It's all legal and binding. I can do whatever I want with you. Now, you two shall no longer waste time on clothes and jewelry. That is above you. You shall also now sleep on the floor where there's room. Perhaps by the stove. And since the staff we now have is down to three(_She fired everyone she hadn't brought with her_) you shall join their ranks and shall take orders from them, however, my orders and that of my girl's orders, come first." Ella looked perilously close to tears again the poor thing. I always had been the Spirited one, and the greif over father's death had rattled her even more. So it looked like it was up to me to stand up for our rights.

"Why should we?" I said rebelliously.

"Because we own you thick head!" Ruby sneered

"Yeah, we aren't scared of you! Your lower than servants you can't do anything to us!" Annelise put in. I turned a cold, angry stare on them.

"You sure about that?" I asked in a dangerous voice. That sent them running behind their mamma. Unfortunatly, the joy of getting to them was short lived.

One thing was for sure though. This. **Meant**. **_WAR_**!


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: Just thought I'd mention that I LOVE reviews… … … … **

CHAPTER 2

Stepmother easily got to Ella. Within a day she was at her beck-and-call, terrified of being beaten. Forcing her to wear rags while the piglets (_my name for Annelise and Ruby. It suits their gluttonous nature, although I am quite fond of pigs and respect them as intelligent animals, I can't help myself. The name gets to them, and I took every opportunity to get back at them for what they were doing to my sister! I know, I'm a cruel little thing, but you don't mess with family_!) took all her fine things and showed them off. She was also forced to do all the housework, especially the cleaning and laundry. Meanwhile, I appeared to have been successful in instilling fear into Stepmother and the Piglets as they kept me in the farmyard where I was "useful" and, more importantly, not there to defend my frightened sister. So while Ella was scrubbing floors, I was out in our little garden and taking care of the stable. The years passed and We adjusted to our miserable lives, although we secretly began to stash away any money we could earn by taking on extra jobs for the townsfolk. Surprisingly enough, they were pretty supportive of us, though they dared not cross Madame. It had something to do with all the times we'd helped everybody out and such.

Anyway, about 4 years after Stepmother took over, a royal proclamation appeared in the streets. The people read it out loud to themselves proudly. Ella and I had taught a couple of people to read whenever we had a spare moment over the years and they had taught others (I_ swear the book seller practically kissed our feet whenever we walked in he was making so much more money_!) The proclamation was also delivered to our house. I was helping my sister out inside that day as it was raining and I had finished my other outside duties. Ella meekly took the letter from the poor messenger who was soaking wet and took it to Stepmother and the Piglets who were making an attempt at painting. While it pains me to admit it, Ruby was actually...not...that bad.

"I told you never to interrupt us!" Stepmother shrieked.

"B-but this seal...it's from the palace!"

"From the Palace?" squealed the Piglets in unison.

"Fork it over Cinders!" Annelise said, cruelly using the harsh name they had given her for the cinders that now often stained her frock.

"Don't call her that!" I snapped (_Stepmother snatched the letter from Ella at this point, just in case you care_)

"Shut up Horse-breath!" Ruby retorted

"At least I actually have a sense of smell. Yours must be gone, because frankly, the stuff you spray drives everything but the vermin away." Stepmother gasped.

"Girls, girls! This is exciting news! The King is holding a ball at the palace, and by royal decree, every eligible maiden of status and marriageable age is to attend!" The piglets squealed. I shrugged and muttered,

"Must be getting desperate."

Big deal! A bunch of squealing female idiots in dresses they can barely breathe in showing off for some stuffed-shirt prince-ling! However, my sister seemed thrilled at the prospect. Picking up the invitation she double checked that the statement was what she'd heard it to be.

"But that means _I _can go too!" The piglets burst out laughing.

"But it says: By Royal decree, every maiden is to attend."

"Good for you, you can read that." Ruby said in a demeaning tone

"Which is more than can be said for you." I murmured ruefully.

"What was that you wench?" Stepmother scowled as she turned on me in a fury. However, I was in **no** mood.

"Oh, _bite_ me! Besides, Ella's right! She has just as much, no scratch that, _more_ right to go to that ball than any of you low-life scavengers. She is after all, the _daughter _of an Earl. And no, piglets. Daughter by marriage doesn't count, not when all you did was use him!"

The piglets and I traded barbs for a few more minutes, ( _A fight which I won sufficed to say_)before stepmother finally said to Ella,

"Very well, you can go. IF you finish all your duties and find something suitable to wear." Then she turned to me, "I suppose you will want to go too-"

"Ha! Yah right! I hate dancing, and I hate those dumb ball gowns! You could make a tent just out of the ribbons, bows and ruffles on those things!" I scoffed on my way out the door after an extatically happy Ella. However, just as I closed the door, I heard Ruby and Anelise start complaining at their Mother.

"Mother could you hear yourself? Do You know what you just said?" (_Or something like that anyway. They babbled almost incoherently_)

"Of course." she purred, "I said _if_" Right then, although I couldn't see it, I knew the piglets were sniggering.

"Oh." they giggled. "_If_"

_**So that's the game is it**_I thought furiously. _**Well, your forgetting one thing...You said if, so when she does have the stuff, you have to let her go. Ohhh we've got you now! **_

However, that apparently, was easier said than done

Over the course of the next few days I spent what free time I had trying to help out little sis. Both Stepmother and the Piglets were laying on every extra task they could think of on Ella, and unfortunately on me too. (_You'd be surprised how many times their stupid Pekinese managed to "accidentally" roll in the mud. Guess whose job it is to wash the grime off the little devil_.) It was funny how all of Madame's staff decided to take all these "brakes" and not get themselves fired...

Ah well, it wasn't TOO bad. Over the years we'd trained a couple of our animals for little jobs. Like my Hawk for example. Lightning, (the name comes from the lightning-shaped mark of reddish feathers on his back) he will only fetch things for me. Oh, and my collie Angel, the one Lutty torments, (_smartest dog EVER in my opinion_) can do a world of things! Then there's Ella's sparrows and mice of course. Quite intelligent little things all around. We also got to work on her dress. You know, those little mice could get jobs as seamstresses if they wanted! They'd just have to get past the mousetraps in the dress shop...and the cat too...Anyway! Unfortunately, Madame noticed a few of her clothing rejects were missing after she went through the rag-bag ( I'm telling you! Paranoid or what? At that moment I wanted to tell her to Get A LIFE! Then I remembered that I didn't have one either and kept quiet for once.)

Finally, it was the night of the dance. Poor little sis was so dejected that she had nothing to wear, therefore could not go. I did my best to console her, but she was devastated. After the three leeches ridiculed her a bit, they left in their over-extravagant, more-than-a-little-bit tacky silk finery, Ella ran to the garden and began sobbing her eyes out kneeling beside the bench. I followed her at a discreet distance, then I caught sight of a shimmering light glowing in front of my sister. I increased my speed and crouched behind a rose bush.

From the glittering light, a woman appeared. Her hair was a chestnut colour that gleamed in the moonlight with eyes that were only a couple shades darker that twinkled with a touch of mischief. (_nice mischief though, like someone with a good sense of humor_) Her dress was gorgeous. It was made of a soft, delicate-looking material and white at the shoulders and sleeves that melted into a soft pink at the bodice and then into lilac to about her knees and finished off with a baby blue. She also had a tiara of flowers on her head and a long white wand with a bright green handle that looked to be studded with emeralds or something. Now I'm missing something...Oh yeah! I CAN'T forget her wings! They were large, butterfly wings with a yellow center that went out into lilac, baby-blue, bright pink with white flecks on the edges. Oh yeah, she was gorgeous all-around. It would have KILLED the three hags to see her (_it_ _made me want to grab Ella's paint set and make an attempt at a picture. Man I wish they would hurry up and invent the camera! No one would believe me when I told them my sister had a fairy Godmother!)_ Just then she spoke.

"Do not cry child. All will be well. I am your Fairy godmother" (_See, wink-wink-nudge-nudge what did I tell you?_) Ella looked up at her through teary eyes.

"My F-fairy g-Godmother?" She stammered

"Yes. And I shall help you. You shall make it to the ball tonight."

"But...I have nothing to wear...I"

"Sis, she'll fix it don't worry." I groaned with a roll of my eyes. (_I hadn't meant it like that, but hey! I was grumpy! You try mucking out stalls, weeding the garden and doing other such jobs all day AND looking out for your twin! It's not easy. Plus, living with the piglets makes permanently irritable_) The bush jumped aside. Oops. Guess they'd heard me.

"Traitor." I muttered at the rose bush. I watered, clipped and weeded that thing every day! And what thanks do I get? The fairy raised a finely-shaped eyebrow at me. I looked around for an escape route, but I knew the cat was out of the bag.

"Uh...hi." I said with a little wave and an attempted smile, then sighed, and straightened. "Okay, okay. I'm Crys, Ella's twin sister. Sorry for the outburst earlier. This won't ruin Ella's chances or anything...will it? Because, okay, the life of Ball-room dancing and parties isn't for me but, she likes it...and-and okay I'm out of excuses. Can I please stop groveling now?" The Fairy Godmother smiled warmly.

"Of course no harm will come of it. We-I mean I have also observed you too. I know your heart is also good and kind." I was flattered, but still a little suspicious. I hadn't missed that little slip there.

"Why thank you. Please continue, pretend I'm not even here." The Fairy and Ella proceeded to do just that (_though, they definitely didn't forget I was there_)

"Now dear, you cannot go to the ball looking as you do." The Godmother stated, waving her wand over Ella's clothes. Immediately, her rags turned into a-a...alright, I know I'm supposed to say beautiful gown, but lets face it! It wasn't! I couldn't have kept my mouth shut if I'd wanted to.

"Oh no. No way is she wearing That!" I drawled. The Fairy cringed when she looked at it and bit her lip

"Oh dear." She said quietly. The dress was a terrible style, and hideous colors (_now I know I say that about a lot of dresses, but this one was __**Terrible**_) The bodice was clearly corseted and far too tight and was a bright lemon yellow with sickly green lacings around it over a skirt that was extremely wide at was bright orange trimmed with hot pink. Oh, it gets worse. One word. _Ruffles_. Ruffles of all shades were all over the place: The ridiculously puffy sleeves and skirt, the tight corset, the low neck line, even her hair (_Don't even go there. Ringlets, small ones. Not pretty, actually, that's wrong. My sister can pull of any look, well almost. Let's just say it wasn't as...flattering as it could have been_) Ella started nervously looking around for a mirror. I quickly snatched away the hand mirror and stood between her and the pond. I shook my head at her and plastered on the best smile I could muster (_which was pretty pathetic_.)

"Not yet." I managed to get out. She swallowed hard, but took my advice. I sidled over to 'Miss Pixie' and whispered,

"I take it that wasn't supposed to happen?"

"Not exactly"

"What is this? Your first job or something?"

"Actually...yes." I slapped my forehead with my hand.

"Greeaaatt" I drawled then sighed and moved my hand down my face to rest under my chin and cocked my head at Ella, a thoughtful expression on my face (_at least I think it was. I know I was deep in thought at the time certainly_.) "Well, first let's change that style."

"You think you can do my job better?" Oooo. Fairy has a dark side, or at least a temper. I suppose I couldn't really blame her. Thinking back, I guess I might have been a bit arrogant...

"No, but I can't exactly do worse on the dress front." (_Yeah I know, I can be obnoxious sometimes. Nobody's perfect!_)

So we got to work. By the time we were done Ella had gone from "oh" to a 'Whoa!"

Her dress was now a simpler, more elegant style with a bodice that "hugged" rather than strangle and a skirt that flowed rather than poofed. The sleeves were now long and close-fitting and the neckline was only moderately low and showed off a little of her shoulders. The colours were also much more tasteful. For the most part it was lavender with a light blue lacy trim along the shoulders, neckline and the bottom of the dress as well as along her torso and down the sides of the skirt-thing. The fairy had also given her some jewelry including a diamond necklace, dangling sapphire earrings and ruby hair ornaments that held some of her hair pulled back whilst the rest of her curls hung loose at her shoulders.

"Nice." I said with an approving nod at Ella's godmother and handed my sister the mirror. She looked to be stunned to see her own beauty, (_actually, it was probably the refreshing lack of soot and grime that had ended up caked there due to the all the house work she was forced to do_.) She picked up her skirts daintily and walked over to the pond to see her entire reflection. As she did so I noticed her footwhere.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Glass slippers?" I asked the fairy. She rolled her eyes sympathetically.

"I know, I know. I'm not exactly happy about it either. But apparently we have to follow "TRADITION" sometimes." she replied, air-quoting the word tradition. I was liking this pixie more and more!

"Now. To get you there." She said to Ella, (though I suspected the comment was directed more towards me) tapping her wand against her chin and partially folding her arms. She scanned the garden around her and rested her gaze on a big, round pumpkin. A coy smile spread across her face and she flicked her wand at it...nothing happened. She flicked at the tip with her thumb and fore-finger and tried again. It sprouted viney legs and walked over.

"Closer." she muttered and made a great flourish with the glorified stick in her hand and it turned into a beautiful, if oddly-shaped, carriage. "Perfect." was the mutter this time. She started looking around again.

"Hmmn. We'll have to work with what we have. How about four fine horses!" The wand turned on 4 of Ella's mice friends and with a wave, a flourish and some magic words she managed to get decent sized horses after only 2 tries.

You can probably guess the rest, well part of it anyway. The cat in the corner became the footman, dressed in fancy livery and everything. However, when the wand turned towards Angel, I stepped in.

"Ah, if you're looking for a driver, I could do it! And you'd only have to make my outfit match puss-in-boots over there!" The Fairy liked that idea and soon I was in boys' clothes too. (Not that that was anything unusual, but this time I actually looked like a boy...sort of. I just would have to be careful not to let anyone get _**too**_ close)

"Thank You Godmother! Thank you so much!" Ella cried joyfully as she got into the carriage. Suddenly the lady with wings got a look on her face as if she'd just remembered something.

"Oh! Here!" She said, creating a mask out of thin air (with one try too, she was getting the hang of this!) I jumped down and took it from her.

"Thanks Godmother. Don't worry. I'll look out for her there as much as I can."

"I have no doubt that you will. You can call me Lucinda." I raised an eyebrow and asked sarcastically,

"Lucinda?" The Godmother shrugged.

"Comes with the job. You have to have a fancy name. Oh by the way, tell your sister that she only has until midnight. The magic will wear off after that" I shrugged at that. Made sense I guess, in some weird way

"Okay. Thanks again" and with that I skipped back to the carriage and tossed Ella the mask through the window.

"You don't want any of the hags recognizing you now do we?" I told her before she could ask. With that I climbed into the drivers' seat and flicked the reigns. I love magic. They were TRAINED.

And so, we were off to the ball.

"This won't be so bad." I thought to myself. "One evening of fun for Ella…only a couple of hours at that anyway! How hard could it be?"

Was I in for a surprise or what!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello there everyone. Still with us? Good. Well to recap, Sis and I are riding in a giant white pumpkin on wheels pulled by some species- confused mice and wearing clothing that is 100 temporary with a cat playing the roll of footman. Any questions? No? Excellent! Let's continue!

"I must be crazy!" I muttered to no one in particular as we arrived at the gates of the palace. I must have been after all to get myself into this mess! The "horses" startled at the sight of a cat, dog or even stray human and tried to snatch at cheese! Meanwhile the "footman" was trying to groom himself by licking his glove and rubbing it over his hair, his hat in his lap. I slapped my forehead with my hand as one of the mice/horses nearly shied at the site of a cat, again. The Guard at the gate stopped us.

"State your business." It was all I could do not to snap at him. He wasn't necessarily an idiot, he could following procedure after-all. Oh alright. I know I'm not that nice. I had to do it to a) keep in character and b) not to take a chance that he might realize I was a girl. My goal for that night was to avoid unnecessary contact with the other staff at all costs! (The nobles never notice the staff anyway.) So I told the guard we were there for the ball. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

I pulled the horses up to a stop in front of the steps and waited for Ella to get out.

"Remember," I hissed "Avoid The Hags like the plague!"

"I know!" she snapped back. "I'm not stupid!" It was true. She wasn't, not at all. The problem was that she didn't always _use_ that marvelous mind of hers. When I saw that she had safely entered the palace I quickly parked the carriage, watered the horses and then started to make my way into the ball room. However, first I had to get into the palace.

Remember me saying that no one ever noticed the staff? Well if I'd had any previous doubts, I didn't any more. Getting in was a piece of cake. My real problems would be after the other servants all figured out who was who. However, once I was in I started wishing that they could put a map or something on the walls to show where the ball room was! The place was like a labyrinth! I kept expecting to come across a minotaur or something every time I turned the corner! Yet despite my...uh...lack of directional capabilities, I was the picture of dignity and grace.(Oh alright you win. My hat was askew and I tripped over a broom...twice. But I did find a closet with a reasonably good disguise in it!) Finally I found the huge, thankfully open, doors to the ball room and ducked behind a tapestry when I heard footsteps nearing the corner.

"Gee, you think this is the ball room?" Came an arrogant male voice.

"I believe it is sir." Was the stuffy reply of what sounded to be an elderly man. Peeking through a small hole in the thick fabric, I noticed that I had been correct on both counts, not bad, I suppose. The young man looked to be in his late-teens-early-twenties. HE had Dark hair, reasonably tanned skin, brown eyes and was...well...hot(Much as I hated to admit it) Tall and muscular with a well shaped head and features, he'd be pounced on the second he walked in. Judging by his fine livery, he looked to be someone important, not to mention rich!

"Your majesty, do not forget your manners when with your cousin." The butler said (See? Royalty. Richest, most important of the hierarchy in our society.)

"Yes, yes I will. Alright? My goal is simply to survive the night before succumbing to boredom. Don't worry, I won't make my cousin regret his very un-wanted invitation. I'm not a playground bully you know." Finally he went in and I could sneak around some more. However, just before entering, a slip of paper on the ground drew my attention. Picking it up, I saw that it was a page from a diary, a very mischievous entry too. Filled with harsh opinions and snarky remarks on certain members of the royal family, though it was clearly written by someone related to them. Quietly slipping it into my inside jacket pocket, I slipped into the ball room.

Ella was easy to pick out. She was practically glowing (or was that the candle light behind her?) and looked exquisite, at least the guy dancing with her seemed to think so. Judging by the other ladies' reactions, he must have been important as well as extremely handsome. Next to spot were our Step Family. Madame was giving her girls what looked to be a whispered pep-tallk, however, Annelise seemed distracted. For one terrifying moment I thought she had recognized Ella, but no. Wrong direction. Still... I needed to make sure that they never figured it out. So, using my page/waiter-guise, I quickly bustled over with a tray of food I had picked up from another, very tired servant and went to set it on the buffet table(Oh yeah, forgot about that. Our royal family's got the best cooks in something like the nearest 10 or 20 kingdoms and love to show them off at gatherings such as these). When doing so I "accidentally" knocked over a salad bowl, making the piglets and their mother jump back slightly. By the time everyone started looking around wildly for who had done it, I was out of the vicinity and mingling with the other staff, blending into the back-drop and home free.

Or...so I thought.

When I made my way outside I found my arm gripped by someone standing right outside the door to the gardens and was being led deeper into the courtyard. My fancy hat was tilted down over my annoyingly-feminine features and my head was also looking down slightly, and I got a good view of the guy's fancy boots.

"That was a nice stunt there." Ooh. That voice sounded eerily familiar... The Prince from the Hallway spoke again, "I have to say I admired the precision and timing, but if there's somebody creating havoc, I get the blame for something that I didn't have the pleasure of doing myself, and I am under strict orders to restrain my practical jokes. Is that clear young man?" I nodded, but didn't dare say anything. If I tried to artificially deepen my voice, it would be obvious. But perhaps I could get away with an adolescent male with voice cracks-

My thoughts were interrupted by the prince shaking my arm for a response. Then the worst happened. Okay, well not the WORST, but something pretty bad. My hat fell off and my long-ish braid fell down my back and, well you get the picture. In a word, I was busted! After everything I'd nagged my sister about, _**I **_had been caught! God, I would NEVER live this down! My "captor" was so startled that he relaxed his hold on me and I yanked my arm out of his grip and stared up at him defiantly.

"W-Well. That's a...certainly a surprise." he stammered, but regained his aloof arrogance pretty quickly. "I suppose that's a pretty good disguise for a midget."

"I am NOT that short!" I exclaimed quietly albeit furiously. (Ok. Time to fess up. I may have exaggerated my height a TINY bit. Okay I'm only around 5 foot 4 or so, and Ella's 5'3 and a 1/2)

"Never the less what, pray tell, is a girl doing in that uniform?"

"What do you care? It isn't illegal."

"You know that for a fact?"

"Yes. I checked." Was my defiant retort. I have been accused of having the sharpest tongue in the kingdom and was proud of it. Therefore, using it is almost fun. After all, one must keep up appearances mustn't one?

"So why aren't you out dancing like all the other ladies?"

"Why aren't you?" He had to stop himself from grimacing then laughed at that. Apparently the comment had got him at a loos fo words. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Impressive. I don't have an answer. that hasn't happened to me in years."

"Bound to happen sometime." I muttered ruefully.

"I'm going to assume that you always have to get the last word in don't you?" he smirked

"Yes." was the retort. Personally, I didn't like that smug look on his face. It was like he thought he was better than me! This prince-ling clearly needed to be taken down a notch...or 5! Personally, I rather hoped it was the latter. More fun that way. Suddenly he spoke again,

"Tell you what, I won't turn you in if-"

"Wait a moment, hold on there. I don't need to do you any favors. I know how to fight fire with fire. Try to black-mail me and I'll do the same." He scoffed.

"With what?" This time it was my turn to look smug and I took out the slip of paper. The colour drained from his face.

"This doesn't necessarily have to be written by you personally for it to cause trouble." I informed him, snatching it out of his reach as he lunged for it.

"Wrong move." I said. "Had any doubts before, I KNOW it's important now." The Handsome young man shook his head, and odd smile on his face.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be out-maneuvered."

"Like I said, had to happen one day. Some day it probably will happen to me." he tried to snatch it again but I hopped backwards then continued backing away, heading for a tall hedge. Looking up at the clock, I noticed it was ten minutes to 12 O Clock. The magic would wear off in a few minutes. Time to go.

"But not today." I said with a little mock-salute and ducked behind the bush. He was quick to give chase, but guess who was the one that was in comfortable shoes and clothes that didn't matter if they got dirty! In a way it was a little ironic. By the time he reached the door to the ball room, Ella and I had slipped away.

A.N For the record, I do NOT support blackmail or anything illegal etc. I was just trying to portray Crystal's tough and defensive attitude and her streetwise, almost slums-like knowledge of how to "survive" in her "world"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_A.N I'm playing around with first-person and third person narrators in this chapter, I'll try not to make the switches confusing_.

_Also, PLEASE review! (Hint: If I get more reviews, I'm more likely to post this faster.)_

**Derrick's POV**

Prince Derick watched his cousin Conrad, Heir to the throne of his kingdom. (Derick's Father was this realm's queen's sister and they all got along very well and were the firmest of alies)Like his cousin, Derick was also a crowned prince. He had been invited by his uncle and Conrad to the Ball thy were holding and had been sent (against his will) to the festivities by his father. The sarcastic and witty prince had expected to be bored silly though out the entire evening, and for the most part he had been correct. That is, until that last few minutes. He had brought aside what he had thought to be a mischevious page-boy, only o find himself going head-to-head in a verbal sparring match with a young woman in disguise! She had fled and escaped him before he could find out more about her. It was all because of those cursed shoes he had been wearing! He had tripped over them and by the time he'd recovered himself she had gotten to great a head-start to catch up with her. In a way it was kind of ironic, normally it was the women who couldn't move for the fancy gear they put on. Still, there was something about that girl...

Conrad had also met someone. A masked girl had arrived at the ball and he had danced with her all night, ignoring the king's instructions to dance with as many elidgable young ladies as he could. Now he was in love, and everyone knew it. The king had been furious. The point of the ball had been for his son to marry a young woman of status, either a foriegn princess or a high-ranking noble of his own realm. But no. His son had set his heart on a girl that no one even knew the identity of.

So another ball was to be arranged. This time a masqeurade, and Derick had been informed by HIS father via courrier, that he was to stay there for not only the ball, but the the next month for "quality time" with his cousin, Aunt and Uncle, probably in the hope that he would meet a "special someone" too to bring home and marry or something. Normally he would have argued about it and stayed on only grumpily and made things a little un-pleasant, but now...he wanted to see that girl again. Though he wouldn't admi it, he had enjoyed their quick conversation and wanted a chance at a longer one. Like he had said, no one had out-manouvered him in years!

**Chrys**

We got home that night with very few problems. Our timing was actually perfect. We rolled in through the gate just as the clock began to strike midnight. We even had enough time to go inside and begin straightening a few things up before our fancy clothes fell away into our old rags and outside the pumpkin and farm animals turned back into themselves. I went ou to roll the pumpkin back into place while Ella straightened up a few things. It was so good to se her so happy again. She filled me in on every detail that I'd missed while trying to get to the ball room and in the couryard. She was in love, it was plain as day. However, she was not the only one to sleep with thoughts of a man at a ball that night. For I too found myself thinking on the young man whom I had met. It had been a long time since I had been so well matched in a verbal and mental battle field. I had only really won the battle by chance. If I had not had that paper, he would have won that round. I would have to be more prepared next time, if there was a next time that is.

Part of me felt guilty about threatening him like that, but the "tough" part of me that had kept my spirited...ness(or however you say it), independance and individuality in tact won out over it.

Our step-family returned an hour or two later chattering away. They were still talking when they woke up the next morning at their usual late hour. Ruby couldn't stop talking about Prince Conrad. (She was in some strange, snobby fan-club that all wanted to marry the poor guy and obsessed over him completely. And I mean COMPLETELY. Example: Ruby had managed to get her hands on a napkin he'd used and had created a shrine to it in her room. Satisfied?) Annelise however, was abnormally quiet about the scocial occasion. She was normally just as bad, if not worse than her sister. She was also refusing her food, which admittedly wasn't that out-of-the-ordinary.

The next day I had to go to the village market to fetch some groceries and stuff to find everybody crowded around another notice. I closed my eyes a moment and surpressed a groan. ANOTHER ball. A masquerade this time. In one week. When I got home pulling the wagon of goods everybody had recieved word from the palace and were squealing with excitement, even Ella, thoguh she did so in a small dark corner to ensure no one would notice her.

However, while everybody else was excited beyond belief, I couldn't help but become increasingly anxious. Who was to say that Lucinda would help us a second time? How could she even know about the second dance? None of these details seemed to be occurring to anyone! The other person who didn't seem to be ecstatic about the ball was, oddly enough, Annelise. She had been acting very strange lately. For one thing, she was eating more. In all the time I'd known her she had seemed to be on a permanent diet or something, starving herself dangerously practically once every couple months! Although in the past week she had started eating, even taking seconds at dinnertime. I'd also seen her making a sincere-looking effort with her horse for once, taking time to groom the finely bred gelding a little nervously, but the thought was what counted! She was also doing something different with her hair and make-up. She was leaving her straight white-blond locks down in a simpler style and was using different face-paints, applying colours that were classy rather than flashy. The other thing that was noticeably different to my observations was that Annelise was taking considerable pains to be NICE to the staff and Ella, staying out of her mother and sister's usual jibes at us. The differences were becoming more and more apparent as the week before the second ball dragged on.  
For the longest time I couldn't figure it out. Then, two nights before the big evening I was outside stretching my legs since I couldn't sleep. When I came back though the little wood by our house that intersects the garden, I stopped short at the sound of voices and ducked behind the old oak in our garden that had several bushes around it that I crouched behind and pushed the leaves apart just enough for me to peek through.

It was Annelise. She was standing near the gate to the garden and was with...the blacksmith?! Well, the guy, Joseph was cute and nice enough. He had been apprentice to the former blacksmith since he had been 8 and had recently been made into a partner a couple of months ago after around 12 or so years of training. I strained my ears and creeped as close as I could to catch what they were saying;  
"You have to leave! We can't let mother catch us!" Annelise hissed  
"Why? Why can't we be together?" Joseph asked her  
"You know what she's like. She wants me to marry into fame and wealth, and royalty if I can, she would destroy you! I won't let her do that to you. She's done it to too many others, and now I see that it's wrong. She will NOT hurt someone I love!"  
"You...you love me?" There was a pause for a minute as she thought about what she had said  
"I...I...I guess I do! I love you!" (It was kind of cliché, and a little bit sappy romance-novelish, but it was also a little sweet!) Just then there was a noise from the house and the light of a candle came on in Step Mother's room. Madame's eldest daughter bit back a gasp and Jo tensed.  
"You must go!" she hissed  
"When will I see you again?" he asked. The woman in his arms looked back at the house anxiously as she pulled out of his embrace a little.  
"The ball! Come to the palace and I'll slip away! Go!" She whispered holding onto his hand still even as he began to leave. Suddenly he pulled her sharply to him and kissed her. Then Lucious began yapping and Jo slipped away. Just before he left completely, he turned and tossed her something.  
"I'll see you in two days!" he said, then turned and left. Annelise looked down at the thing he had tossed her and clutched it to her heart, biting her lip to hold back a sob.  
I was dumb-struck. Here was one of my, cruel, un-feeling archenemies only a few meters away and I had just discovered how terribly wrong I had been about her all this time! The bitterness could have simply been loneliness, same with the self-starving routines. Now of course I felt guilty. Just then Madame's piercing voice shrilled from her window as she yanked back the curtains and pushed open the window.  
"Annelise? What are you doing up at this late hour? You are upsetting the dog!"  
"I...I" she stammered, trying to think up an excuse.  
"She was looking for me." I called up, coming out from around the bushes.  
"Really?" Stepmother asked skeptically. "And why would that be?" Uh Oh. Now I had to come up with an excuse.  
"Because...I, uh, took her...bracelet! Yeah, mother's bracelet! You remember! The one you lot stole from Ella and I!" Annelise had caught on.  
"That's right! You rotten thief!" she snarled, somewhat pathetically. The ploy seemed to work and Madame shut her window after a yell for us to get back in. Soon as the curtains were drawn again my stepsister whirled on me.  
"You tell anyone about him and I'll-"  
"Whoa there stepsister. Why would I tell?" Her eyes narrowed at that.  
"So that's your game is it? Well I won't let you hold this over my head and ruin it for me!" I stopped her with shushing motion.  
"Pipe down will you! Look, I know my track record with that kind of thing may not be that great but I won't breathe a word to anyone. No charge, pay-back or anything." Her eyes narrowed again.  
"Why?" I turned to face her.  
"Because one: It would hurt him as much as you and two: For the first time in all the years I've known, you just showed that you have actually have a heart. I'm not going to tell anyone." She gave me a suspicious look, but walked back inside with me.

Finally it was the night of the ball. Everyone was excited and rushing about to get ready. Out of the three hags (no wait, I'm going to...swallows grudgingly...change my mind. So that would be TWO hags and one...other person. Look, I have trouble letting go of a grudge, deal with it!) Well, they were in gear that was just as tacky as before. The moment they were gone, my sister rushed outside to the garden to await Lucinda. After catching up with her I shook her slightly.  
"Ella! Listen to me. Don't pin all your hopes on the fairy returning. Who's to say that she even knows we need her-"  
"Give me some credit will you!" came that wonderfully familiar voice. Both of us turned and grinned at the sight of Lucinda.  
"You came!" Ella exclaimed as she ran up and hugged her magical benefactor. The fairy stroked her hair gently for a moment before stepping back a bit.  
"Ready to go see your prince?" Ella nodded. With a smile and a few (okay more than a few) spells and waves of her wand, the pumpkin was a carriage again, and the farm animals and I were back in our fancy livery/tack (depending on what you became of course) and Ella was in another beautiful gown. This one was a pale pink with clear sequins down the front, making it appear to twinkle in the moonlight. It also had a glittering silver trim, with matching gloves and also a mask that matched the dress. The style two was a little different. This time it was sleeveless with gloves instead of long sleeves and the bit at the shoulders stuck out only a little in a nice fashion. And once again, glass slippers, although this time I didn't comment.  
"Hey Lucinda." I said, walking up to her "Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful, but...how did you know?"  
"We in the _MAGIC_ business have our ways. But if you ever need me, here." She said sticking her hand up her opposite sleeve and giving me a-a mirror?  
"What's this?"  
"A scrying glass, well, more like a two-way communication device. I have the other one. Whenever you need to talk to me tap it three times and say Lucinda Rosethorn." At my raised eyebrow she shrugged.  
"Hey, there are certain, how shall I say it, guidelines, that we have to follow. Its part of the job. Don't have to like it, but since I don't get to make the rules...Oh remember, at midnight the spell will wear off."  
"Ah. Gotcha."  
And with that we were off again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A.N: I'm putting spaces imbetween paragraphs in the hope that it will make things easier to read, please tell me if you want me to do this for the rest of the story. Oh yeah, and ususal plea-**Review**!

This time getting there was **much **easier. For one thing, the "horses" seemed to have figured out that _'Hey! We're 10 times bigger and stronger with big sharp hooves now! Those cats won't touch us!'_ Therefore, they were going much better. The cat/footman was also behaving a little; well, at least a little more human, which was a start.

I also found it much easier to navigate the palace a second time. (Meaning I got my hands on a sweet little map complete with, yes you guessed it, secret passageways!) I was rather pleased with myself for finding it! Oh all right. I took a wrong turn and ended up in, yeah you got it again, ANOTHER closet. But in my defense, there was water, an un-used mop and a tipped bucket involved! Anyway, when I slipped, I knocked over a small chest and the map fell out.

So I ended up in the courtyard again, (although I hadn't necessarily intended to...once again, bad sense of direction!) When I scrambled through the trap door disguised as a large concrete stepping stone I saw that my "friend from last time was just exiting the ballroom. There was no time to hide effectively, but there WAS time to put the stepping-stone back in place, which needless to say, I did. The young man stopped short when he got close enough to recognize me, then smiled arrogantly and walked over.

"Well, well, well." He said snatching my hat off. I let him. He actually had done me a favour. I suppose that Lucinda hadn't gotten everything EXACTLY perfect as the stupid thing had been a size to small and consequently, uh, sort of...stuck.

"Couldn't stay away could you?" he drawled.

"Will you just shut up? It had nothing to do with you so stop acting like your all that! Because newsflash, your not!"

"Do you have any idea who I am?!" he replied testily

"I have a pretty good idea. Fancy throne, long documents needing signatures, important and powerful parents..."

"And?"

"Newsflash, your not all that." He looked a little taken aback, and then shook his head with a small smile.

"I don't think anyone's ever said that to me."

"Really? Well you clearly need to hear it." I said with a smile of my own.

"I could call the palace guard..." I scoffed.

"You won't do that and both of us know it."

"Only because you've got something of mine." He muttered.

"What you mean this?" I said taking out the paper. He snatched it from me.

"Ha!" he trumpeted. I shook my head and took out another paper, exactly the same the one he held in his hand.

"Nice try. But I came prepared this time. But I won't play this card unless you force me to." He glowered at my aloof, satisfied expression.

Suddenly, before either of us knew it we were sitting on opposite sides of the wall around the garden talking. I was careful not to give anything away that would give him a clue as to who I was, but I found out a lot about him. He was a Prince as I suspected, Crowned Prince Derrick to be exact, cousin to our own Prince Conrad.

"So. What's it like to be royalty?" I asked. Derrick shrugged.

"It's okay I suppose. There are a lot of boring formalities, but I get to do pretty much anything I want."

"Lucky you."

"Don't get me wrong. It's not all fun and games. I don't have any real control over my life yet. Oh No. That won't happen until I'm King."

"I know what it's like to feel like you have no control over what happens to you." I said quietly. Just then Derrick spoke again.

"Sometimes I wish I could be more like Conrad. He's perfect to my family's point of view. He does what he's told, doesn't argue, it's like he lives in his own little dream world and doesn't see the real picture sometimes. Do you know anyone like that?"

"Ohhh yes. You bet I do. Maybe I'm just pessimistic, but I don't seem to think the way she does. Where she sees magic and dancing and a happy ending, I just saw how many things could go wrong, how many holes there are in a hastily-made plan."  
"That's not pessimism, that's practicality." For a mew moments there was silence. He broke it by saying,

"You know who you remind me of?"

"Who? Your mother?"

"Yes actually. She's a very strong and practical woman too. She wanted to be a warrior when she was younger."

"Let me guess. She had to married instead."

"Yes, but not for the reasons you think." He said evenly.

"Oh. So it wasn't because she was a woman?"

"No actually. My grandmother was a warrior. No my mother has a physical ailment."

"Really? What kind?"

"You know the joint disease that the elderly get?"

"Yes."

"My mother was a rare case. She developed it when she was a small child."

"Ouch." I winced in sympathy. Then I looked up at the clock. 12 minutes left. Crud! I had to get going!

"You know," the prince said, interrupting my thoughts, "I've never talked to anyone like this, except for her that is. She's off negotiating with a powerful kingdom of warriors. She's been away a lot these past few years."

"I-I" I was a little taken aback, but recovered quickly "I have to go. Sorry." I took that opportunity to hop off the wall and start jogging back. I heard Derrick call after me and he caught up when I got to the fountain.

"Hey wait!" He called, grabbing my arm.

"Let go." I said calmly.

"No, I'd like an explanation."

"I told you. I have to go. Now _you_ let _me_ go." This time I yanked, but he held firm.

"Not to take a leaf from my cousin, but…when will I see you again?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. But. Let. Go!" As I said so I pinched the skin between his thumb and forefinger. I knew it hurt, as I had had that done to me once. He let go a little too suddenly though, and we were both thrown off balance. He landed in the thorn bush and I in the fountain. Stupid shoes! They had NO friction. Still, I climbed out quicker and once again escaped him, ducking around some decorative statues and into the secret passage again.

However, this time we weren't fortunate enough to get all the way home before the spell wore off and I had to walk just over 2 miles soaking wet that night. In the rain...through sticky mud...dragging a giant pumpkin behind me.  
Needless to say I was NOT in a good mood by the end of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The next morning I woke up to a sore throat, stuffy nose, a cough and even a small fever. Lucky me, I'd caught a cold. I couldn't really say that it was a surprise, considering the conditions in which we'd come home. Unfortunately for me, since it wasn't life threatening, just annoying, I was still expected/required to do my chores and duties so I did what the rest of us "indentured servants" did-sucked it up and kept working!  
It was in this fabulous mood that I went to the square to find; you guessed it, another brightly coloured poster. I groaned. Well, you have to say this for His majesty- he didn't give up easily.

This time around, it was actually a lot easier to do things for this ball. Annelise had been pretty much leaving us alone after the incident in the garden and we seemed to be in some sort of truce. We were even coming perilously close to Gulp getting along!  
Speaking of Annelise, I was really impressed with her behavior. She was being considerably more polite to those "beneath her" and even asked Ella for fashion advice (_a wise move on her part. Ella's always had the BEST taste.) _After seeing her older sister do it, even Ruby decided to give her step-sister's advice a try!  
If it had been me, I would have totally screwed up accidentally-on-purpose with Ruby's hair and make-up. However, lucky for her, my sister has the most golden of hearts and turned her into a real beauty. She'd never be the most glorious in the land, but she was far, far, far from the worst. After all, none of them were HIDEOUS per say, just incredibly unpleasant. Now while this had certainly changed with Annelise (who was down-right pleasant to be around now, I was amazed at the transformation!) Stepmother only got worse. Ah well. Can't have everything I suppose. God forbid we should be allowed to eat the cake too!

Two days before the ball I "called" Lucinda via the magic mirror she gave me and got a surprise when the mirror began talking.  
"Finally!" said the irritating voice of the sprite of the mirror. (_Okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but when you're sick, everything can feel irritating.)_  
"What do you mean 'finally'?" I sniffed through my stuffy nose.  
"What took you so long to use me? Do you have any idea how boring it is just sitting in your pocket?" The sprite replied  
"Here's an idea: Don't get stuck in a hand-held piece of glass if you get bored!" Just then Angel appeared and nuzzled my shoulder. (_That dog is the greatest! She always knows when I'm down, plus, she's really good at helping me out! You'd be surprised what she and my Hawk Lightening can do if they put their minds to it_)  
"Think I was asked? Anyway, what's wrong with you? You sound terrible!" The face in the mirror commented. It was a sort of genderless, ageless, simple face. It was a silvery oval face with black eye-sockets, no nose and a line for a mouth. I raised an eyebrow at it  
"Is that what you really look like?" The words burst from my mouth before I had time to think about them and almost winced at their harshness. The poor thing was trapped in a mirror for crying out loud! I shouldn't be criticizing him...her...it. Whatever! However, the spirit didn't seem to mind.  
"No. It's just the easiest form. Plus, if I behave well, I might be able to get somebody's help in getting out of here." I shrugged, sneezed, groaned and then replied  
"Fair enough. Now back to business. Lucinda, remember?" With a grumble, the thing in the mirror obliged my request and within moments the fairy's face appeared in the small glass  
"How can I help you-Oh!" she exclaimed looking at my disheveled hair, red nose, pale face and watery eyes  
"My goodness! What happened to you?!"  
"A cold." Was my miserable reply "But enough about me, the final ball is tomorrow and we could really use some help."  
"Don't worry I'll be there. Anything else?"  
"Yeah, snuffle know any tonics that'll end my misery?" She laughed at the joke, which was good, at least I wasn't completely off my game, and I returned the smile a little.  
"No, I don't know anything in that respect, but I could tell you about a few herbs that will help. You should have them in your garden" After a round of coughing, I replied  
"Please and thank-you"

**A.N Short I know, but I've been busy. The next chapter is actually ready, but I would like some more reviews before i put it up please**.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 8

The next morning (After Ella brewed the herb mixture that Lucinda gave us,) I felt much better. By noon my sniffles were gone along with my fever and cough, though my throat was still sore. But hey, I took what I could get! After taking Annelise for a ride (I was teaching her to improve her riding. We still weren't friends; though so don't get the wrong idea! I just felt sorry for her gelding!) We were all really busy for the rest of the afternoon. Our stepfamily was messing around with their hair (though our stepsisters secretly asked for Ella's help. Wise move on their part if you ask me!)

Once again, the three of them left haughtily and once again Lucinda was there to help.  
The Gown she created this time was as stunning as ever. It was apparently silk (But Ella would know more about that then I would) and was a whole array of absolutely gorgeous colours that really suited her.

The dress was mainly a brilliant gold with a silver trim and shiny blue things (_were those Sapphires? No Wait Diamonds! Okay, if she gets jumped, **not my fault**. Although if she does, whoever does it will die a long and painful death, needless to say_) Once again, matching mask. I had one too this time, though there was really no point as the stupid thing didn't stay on longer than around 30 seconds so I stuffed in my pocket.

My livery changed again, this time it was now black and gold, as was the pumpkin. (Lucinda had to use the rotten pumpkin; it was all we had left, so she improvised!)

"Uh, Lucinda," I said a little nervously, "I don't suppose we could stay longer...could we? Just like a minute or two to make the get-away easier?" The Fairy shook her head

"Better weather guaranteed?" I begged "Please don't make me walk home in the rain again!" Lucinda just smiled (or rather smirked) and replied

"Don't worry. This time it shouldn't rain."

"You sure? Coming from a fairy who's still looking for a functioning wand..." I trailed off. Looking back, I guess I was pushing my luck a bit, but fortunately she seemed to be in a good mood and only chuckled a little.  
So once again, it was off to the ball with us!

Prince Derrick couldn't help himself. He was nervous. HIM! He refused to admit it, but he was pretty sure that he was in...love. Conrad definitely was, but he was...just...Conrad! The guy was nice enough, in fact, in some cases he was too nice, but he was completely out of it! Derrick was supposed to be the down-to-earth one! The whole 'marrying the commoner' act _never_ worked out!  
And yet, he was head-over-heels for the cross-dressing girl he had met twice. This time, she wouldn't get away so easily.

I was getting pretty good at navigating the palace halls. Within only a few minutes I'd found the Courtyard from the servants entrance. He was there, of course. And of course he saw me. However, I decided to make him work a little this time and stayed where I was, inspecting the rose bushes meticulously. I huffed a little in disgust. There were at least 2, no wait! THREE weeds! Not to mention dead blooms, and a rotten stem. These people were supposed to be professionals! Sure an amateur wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but a gardener would be able to!

Anyway, while I was fussing over the flowers I could hear him come up behind me. I don't know what he was thinking of doing, but he didn't catch me off guard like he seemed to think he would

"Don't even think about it." I said sourly.

"Think about what?" He replied innocently

"What ever you were thinking of doing."

"Ha ha. Funny." He chuckled. God I hated that attitude! Now I know I never acted like that! (_Okay, maybe around the hags, but in my defense-LOOK at them! They practically __**BEG**__ for attitude_!)

"So what's a pretty girl like you doing out all alone? Shouldn't you be looking for a husband around now?" He drawled with that despicable smirk! Now there was no way he was getting away that remark

"Well maybe I'm looking for someone that can disappear quickly if you take my drift. Then again, I could always hit you and leave." I growled. Not my best threat, but oh well.

"Oh yeah, I'm REALLY scared now." He drawled.

"You should be. I can take down a guy twice my size." I said bluntly. (_Oh and it's **true**. The big brute of a Lord-ling probably isn't about to go abusing anymore animals now that he knows I don't like it!_) He looked at me in an odd way and then sobered

"Actually, I believe that." He said seriously. Then he sighed. "I hate balls, but I like the time I spend with you. Say, do you know how to play chess?"

"Of course." I replied wryly, smiling despite myself. Time to put this guy in his place.  
We walked over to a fountain where he had placed a chessboard. No need for chairs, neither of us really cared if we got our clothes messed up and sat cross-legged on the grass. The chessmen were solid gold. One was studded with sapphires and one with rubies. I raised an eyebrow at this.

"You actually play with these? You know you could sell these things and feed your country for nearly a decade!" I exclaimed. He merely shrugged.

"My father likes chess. He got me into it. This was a present for my birthday 2 years ago. Now, Blue or red?" I picked the rubies and we began playing.

"So Derrick." I began "What's it like in your kingdom?" I pinned his rook.

"Not bad. A little boring sometimes." He replied with a shrug. He took my bishop.

"Well how boring can it be? You're the prince. You have the run of the place." I captured his rook and trapped a knight.

"Yeah right. All the rules and regulations to follow! I never get to do anything fun or in the least bit dangerous. I wish I had a sibling. Then I wouldn't be the only heir." He countered my excellent trap. We continued on like this for a bit, and I lost all track of time. It wasn't until after I checked him that I looked up at the large clock and swore. I had less than 5 minutes!

"Will you look at the time-Gotta go!" I said and started to get up to find a hand on my arm.

"Let us at least finish the game first." He said calmly, though I could see the pleading in his eyes. I rolled mine, moved my knight and checkmated him. (Ok, so what if my horse was on the other side of the board? I was in a hurry!) Then I started running. However, as I headed for the ball room, I jerked to a stop when I saw Ella standing in the entrance to the maze with a guy in gear even fancier than Derrick's. They were just about to kiss when the clock began it's little song that it plays at midnight. Once that was done, there would be the chimes. And after the last chime it was by-by dress-up, hello rags. Ella started to pull away, but the guy held onto her hand. I don't know what they said to each other, but when she reached me and we ran together there were tears in her eyes. Yanking my mask on and holding it in place with my free had we both raced through the hall to the steps with Ella's suitor hot on our tail.  
When we were running down the steps to the carriage, Ella tripped then cried

"My slipper! It's fallen off!" Pulling her with me I exclaimed,

"No time! We've got to get far enough away that they won't catch us!"

Somehow we reached the carriage and I slapped the reigns a little harder then necessary (_which I apologized for to the horses/mice, don't worry_) and the horses started galloping. We managed to get into the forest before the magic faded completely and we were left sitting in our old rags and in pumpkin mush. Upon hearing the sound of hooves, we dived for the cover of the bushes, Ella clutching the little mice to her and I held the cat...(_away from the cute little rodents which he thought of as dinner_.) Ella was sobbing quietly, tears running down her cheeks.

"Ella, Ella what's wrong?" I asked. She sniffed

"That, that man. He was the one I told you about. He-he told me loved me, and that he wants to marry me. And now I'll never see him again!" She cried into my shoulder as we got up and started walking home.

"Hey, it's not so bad. We'll think of something. What are you in such a rush for anyway? You're only 17. It's not like…you're limping." I ended the soothing statement with the blunt fact. She was. I closed my eyes and counted till ten inside my head when I saw what it was. The stupid, stupid, stupid (_did I mention stupid!!!_) slipper. Glass **of** **course**. She did the sensible thing and took it off. Walking barefoot was much easier than just one impractical shoe. Things were about to get very interesting

**A.N The next chapter of this probably will not get posted until after Christmas due to some technical difficulties on my end so, Happy Holidays!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Once again I found out the royalties' next move at the market place. However, this time instead of a signpost, Prince Charming had gone full-out and had the royal crier (_who I happen to know doubled as a minstrel_) go out and read a proclamation. The poor guy was dressed in the silliest outfit that looked more like a jester's uniform than anything else and was accompanied by trumpeters, two formal guards and there was even a royal carriage beside him that probably held an advisor or something inside. I sincerely doubted any of the royal family would come down on this miserable day. (It was not quite raining, but not exactly dry either. Just sort of…well, miserable)

"Here me, here me!" The crier yelled at the top of his lungs he then proceeded to drawl on about the whole 'beautiful masked maiden' thing etc etc. However, finally something caught my attention.

"She who fits this slipper shall be the Crowned Prince Conrad's bride!" In his hand he held Ella's slipper. I couldn't help myself.

"What?! That is the stupidest thing I ever heard!" There was a sort of general gasp and everybody just kind of stepped away from me. I bit back several sarcastic remarks that came to my head that moment, but did elaborate on my statement.

"Oh please! You know you're all thinking about it! It's not like there's only one maiden in the kingdom who wears a size 4 ½!"

"Miss, don't!" a little voice at my elbow hissed. Mistress Silvia the old baker's widow was trying to pull me away gently. (_I didn't understand why some of these people still called me "miss". I never acted like I was on a higher station even before the hags came. Heck, my friends were __**all**__ among their ranks then and still were_!)

"It's alright Mistress Silvia." The book-seller said, "Chrystal knows how to take care of herself" feeling encouraged by this statement I continued with my little speech. I hoped it didn't get too melodramatic, since down-to-earth common sense seemed to have to be yelled at their faces bluntly and with brutal honestly get through some of these thick heads!

"Look, this whole thing is ridiculous. In general this kingdom is run fairly, kindly and all in all well. But sometimes you get to full of yourselves and most importantly your stupid image of perfection. Earth to nobility, _no one is perfect_, and _everyone is different_. Just because you've got a puny slipper, doesn't mean only one girl will fit it. Half the young girls of noble families are so concerned with how they look for your 'high and mighty' balls, royal functions and passing that 'oh so necessary' expectation of getting married, living 'happily ever after, and looking pretty till the day they diethat they will do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to fit into a description that only perhaps a handful of people actually are naturally. Do you want to know the ugly little truth? Well too bad if you don't! Ladies will be so desperate to cram their foot into that thing they will probably go as far as taking a knife to parts of their feet to make them smaller. If his majesty really loves the girl you're looking for, he'll come and look himself. Otherwise, there's no way he's going to find her." I paused for a little dramatic effect then dipped a mock curtsey (which probably looked quite funny since I was wearing my usual outfit of comfy breeches.) and said in as sickeningly polite tone of voice I could muster,

"Good day Milord" and with that I tuned on my heel and left. When I reached where my mare was tethered I gave her a carrot and a pat. I always give Starlight a treat and a pat before a ride. She is one of my best and most loyal companions. She's quite a large horse and gets her name from her coat which is ebony black, like the night sky with a perfect eight-pointed star white mark on her forehead as well as three white stoking on her legs stretching from her hooves almost to her knees. Anyway, I saddled her and packed the goods I had gone into town to buy then mounted and rode off. I took the scenic route home as usual. I always cherish the time I get to spend with Starlight.

You know, in hind-sight MAYBE I should have worried a little more about the people in the carriage… …. …

**Derrick**

A slow, smug grin spread across Prince Derrick's face as he recognized that voice in the crowd. Quietly he ordered the girl who had spoken up so boldly to be followed home. Now he would finally get some answers. She sounded to know quite a bit about Conrad's mysterious maiden. She may even be able to ID the other girl, not to mention explain why she was at the balls. Finally he was going to get some answers!


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow. Quick reviewers. Excellent! (rubs hands together) Maybe now is a good time to tell you that the rest of the chapters are already finished and that the more reviews I get, the quicker I will post. Here is a nice long chapter for you, so read and enjoy and of course keep reviewing so that I know people are reading it and so I also can get some feedback on what you all think of the story.**

Chapter 9

The news of the "grand slipper" spread through the kingdom faster than water through a river. By the time I even got home the whole house was abuzz with the news. The moment I got in Ella intercepted me and yanked me into the cellar with her.

"Chrysie, Chrys this is it! When he comes here I can try the slipper on! It's mine! It will fit!" she hissed excitedly.

"I know I know." I replied, looking through the crack in the old wooden door at Madame lecturing at the piglets on putting their best foot forward (_preferably the left of course, since that was the slipper they had_.).

"Lucinda said everything would end happily! And it will!"

"I know, but I can think of two problems: the Old hag and her little apprentice."

"Don't you mean apprentice**s**?"

"Somehow I'm not worried about twig girl. I have a feeling she doesn't have eyes for the prince."

"What are you talking about?" Ella asked in a suspicious tone (still whispering of course)

"I didn't do anything to her if that's what you think." I hissed defensively. (Which I hadn't of course. The Blacksmith had been the one to 'steal her heart')"Anyway, we have to come up with something to get them to let you try it on…" just then there was a small squeak as a mouse ran out from the larder and a small thump. Putting my finger to my lips in a gesture of silence, I peered around the corner. I didn't see anyone, but I was still suspicious. I would have checked it out further, except that Stepmother screeched for us at that second and we had to leave.

All through the day as we started running around doing extra chores to be ready for some Grand Count or Duke or something's arrival with "the slipper" that scene at the top of the cellar kept running through my mind, especially the suspicious end to it. The more I thought about it the more nervous and irritable I became, and all the more sure someone had over-heard us.

Much to Madame and Ruby's disappointment (_Annelise seemed most relieved_) the Crown official didn't reach our house that day. Nor the next in fact, but I am not going to skip over to the time that elapsed on that second very long and difficult day as several things occurred then.

As I started to head into the garden to fix and beautify the fountain I stopped short just at the door when I heard Stepmother's furious screech. While cautiously approaching the drawing room the conversation became quite easy to make out.

"How dare you! You…you insolent little chit! How dare you! How dare you ever think of even looking at that-that great dirty oaf!"

"You don't even know him!" Annelise trilled

"You will not go near him again!"

"I will _marry_ him!"

"No daughter of mine will _EVER_ fraternize with a lowly servant! I am ashamed of you." Madame hissed. Looking through the keyhole I noticed her nose in the air. Typical.

"Try and stop me! How did you find out anyway?" Stepmother smiled evilly and stroked that little devil beside her.

"Lucious alerted me last night and I saw you…with that-that-"

"Don't say it!"

"Leave her alone!" Someone piped up. But before you say anything, it wasn't me! It was…

_**ELLA**_??!!???????

Yeah. It surprised me too.

Apparently she had been cleaning and had hid behind the curtain. She couldn't take Stepmother's cruelty anymore and had stood up to her. Sniff I was so proud!

Ella stepped out from behind the curtain, standing straight with her head held high in a defiant position (not as good as mine, but she's had a lot less practice, cut her some slack!) Stepmother was flabbergasted. Ella had NEVER stood up to her in even the smallest way before!

"Stay out of this wench!" Madame snarled. Hmm. That seemed to be my queue.

"Why the heck should she?" I asked as I threw open the door. "Like it or not when you married our father you thrust you and your daughters on us insisting that you were 'family'" (_I did air quotes with my fingers and made a face for that last word. Just in case you want to know_)

"You!" Stepmother shrieked as she whipped around to face me. I had to bite back a chuckle. You had to hand it to Annelise. She'd managed to make the witch loose it _way_ more than I ever had, and I'd been trying for years! It's just not fair the amount of talent some people have…

Anyway, back to what was going on.

To make the 'feel-good family moment' (_you guys had BETTER pick up the sarcasm there_!) complete, Ruby walked in with a smug grin on her face that looked to much like mine to not make me suspicious.

"Oh Mamma…" she said in that irritatingly high-pitched sing-song voice of hers, "You'll never guess what I found out."

"Don't say it Ruby!" Annelise snapped. Her sister ignored her.

"You know that mysterious girl the Prince is looking for? I know who it is." My blood ran cold and Ella visibly paled.

"It seems our dear little Cinders has a taste for MY future husband!" For a moment there was stunned silence, which yours truly decided to break.

"Yeah." I scoffed then drawled mockingly "right…Hey there Madame, you might want to watch your kid's obsessive/compulsive-uh-Paranoia!" Unfortunately, my efforts were wasted and not paid any heed. Stepmother advanced on Ella, who was quivering in terror.

"Unfortunately for you," she snarled, "My precious Ruby has only confirmed what I have long suspected. And now, you are going to pay the price of DISOBEYING ME!" her voice rose steadily as she first struck my sister extremely hard and then grabbed her hair and was pulling her around by it. As all of you should know already, I was heading for the evil old croon (_with the intent of inflicting **extreme** bodily **HARM** on her_) the moment I saw her hand rise, unfortunately, her Butler(_who was actually quite young, big and strong_) grabbed hold of one arm while her monster of a cook grabbed the other. My anger rose to, and past boiling point. She'd had this whole thing planned! Needless to say my captors had their hands full, but never-the-less, Madame was going to have her say.

"By the time I'm done with you two you'll wish you had never been born-" she was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Ruby rushed to the window.

"Mother! It's an envoy from the King!" she cried excitedly. Her mother joined her at the window

"You little fool. That isn't our kingdom's seal! That's-Oh my." She turned to her staff that were rounding me and Ella up "Lock them away in one of the rooms or closets! I'll deal with them later." She exited the room with her head held high and proud to answer the door with Ruby trailing behind her…

**Derrick**

Prince Derrick waited very **im**patiently at the door where that girl had been traced to. A middle-aged-to elderly woman answered it. He remembered her. The Countess de…something. She had been making several hints to him about one of her daughters whenever she could during his brief time in the ball room on the nights of those balls.

"Prince Derrick." She said in feigned breathlessness. "What an honor this is. Allow me to formally welcome you to my humble estate…" she prattled on but he didn't pay attention after that line. He was busy looking past her shoulder at the commotion down the long hall. There was that girl!

She was being pulled along by the hair off to somewhere crying and whimpering and clutching at her head from the pain her scalp was clearly in. That didn't seem like her though…going along so docilely…

Then he saw her. A second girl who looked almost identical to the first one only wearing breeches and a tunic was being dragged past him by two large servants struggling fiercely. Now that was more like it! But hold on a moment…two of them? His cousin's mystery girl! Well that explained a lot. He had to tell Conrad-

"Your Highness?" Madame Laea said to get his attention, shifting over so that she blocked his view of the hall.

"Sorry." He said with a shake of his head as he snapped out of his thoughts "What?"

"I said, was there something you wanted?"

"Uh…" he decided to lie. "No, no. Just looking in to see if you are ready for my cousin to arrive. I had nothing better to do so…"

"Ah." She said, he could almost see the gears churning in her head "Then he is coming soon?"

"The envoy will, yes. Whoever fits the slipper will be his bride. Good day Milady." The Prince said with a tip of his hat. However, instead of leaving once he passed through the gate Prince Derrick doubled back through the wood and began prowling around. When he didn't see anyone in the windows the resourceful young man took out a small shell. It was magic and could locate a sound within a short distance very accurately. His spirits lifted when he heard the whimpers of one of the two young women. The Prince followed the shell until he could hear it himself. There was a very small, barred window that clearly led to some sort of cellar.

"Oh Chrys are you alright?" One voice asked between soft sobs.

"I'm fine. Ouch! It's just a bruise…a bad bruise, but still just a bruise. Ughhh. If I ever get my hands on the guy who built this cellar with STONE floors I'll kill him." Said a very familiar female voice.

"But Chrys, he died years ago."

"Then I'll go the underworld, drag him back up here and kill him again!" The "spirited one" said jokingly. This managed to produce a soft giggle from the "quiet one"

"You okay Ella?" The Prince's friend asked her (well he assumed she was her) sister. He guessed she must have nodded or something, but chose that moment to make his presence known.

"What are you ladies doing down there?" he asked with genuine concern. The one in boy's clothes, Chrys, (the one he lo-really really liked) whipped around.

"What the-What are you doing here?" she sputtered as she pushed a small pile of crates over to the wall and climbed on top of them so that her face was pressed against the bars.

"Apparently I'm here to save you."

"What, just 'cause we're girls we have to be damsels in distress?" she challenged. He shrugged at that

"Hey I'm not the one behind bars." he replied and made as if he were going to leave, eventhough that was the farthest thing from his mind.

Chrys rolled her eyes. Her next words were a clear struggle.

"Wait…I'm…sorry okay? Maybe we could…use a hand." She grumbled, somehow swallowing her pride.

"What can I do?" he asked

"I don't know; tell your cousin or something." Just then there was a commotion coming from behind the cellar door.

"Chrys-they're coming back!" Ella cried. Chrys's eyes widened and she leapt from her perch and shoved the boxes back.

"Go." She hissed at Derrick. "We'll be fine."

Even though Derrick doubted that, he knew he had to get help and hurried back to his horse.

**Chrys**

To my intense relief, all they did was move us upstairs and lock us in the attic before the Prince arrived. However, before returning downstairs, Stepmother had another little chat with us.

"I'm warning you." I said "Let us out or I'll-"

"Or you'll what? Talk me to death? Face it Chrystal darling, You are all talk and no action." She said smugly.

"Stop imitating your spoiled little pooch's expressions. I'm not afraid of you!"

"Really? Then why are you still here and not half way across the kingdom?" she sneered. Here's the embarrassing bit. I opened my mouth to come up with a snappy retort, but couldn't come up with one! Don't you just hate it when the Villian makes a valid point? Why HAD we stayed here for so damn long? She gloated at my rare speechlessness and left locking to door behind her.

I paced inside our little attic prison trying to think of a way out. Slamming to door didn't work, it was far too strong and I just didn't have enough weight to put into it due to my size. Has it been mentioned in this yet how much I absolutely HATE being cooped up? I really am much more of an out-doorsey person. Attics are just not in this girl's style! However, while I was fuming and thinking out loud (okay and cursing the hags too) Ella came up with a good idea.

"Chrys, do you have a hairpin?" she asked me

"A what?"

"A hairpin." Ella replied, eyeing the lock on the door. For a moment I was confused, and then a smile slowly spread across my face.

"Ellie, you are a GENIUS!"

As soon as we were free I ran ahead down the flights of stairs. We had to move fast if we were to stop Madame and Ruby from accomplishing their scheme! (Which, to be perfectly honest I wasn't sure how they were going to accomplish as Ruby's feet are about 3 sizes larger than Ella's) It was then that I remembered the crazy things some people would do to make themselves more beautiful and "eligible" and felt a wave of nausea at the thought of what Ruby might do to herself in order to cram her foot into that slipper! Suddenly a thought popped into my head.

"Ella, why are we wasting our time with THAT slipper?" This time it was Ella who smiled slowly.

"Meet me down there, go!" I told her.

**Derrick**

Prince Derrick burst in through the doors first, much to the Grand Duke's dismay as he cradled the precious slipper for fear of breaking it. While Conrad was on his way, who knew how long it would take for him to get there.

"Where is she-they! I mean them!"

"My Lord, what are you talking about?" One of Madame Laea's daughters asked sweetly. She was plump rather than chubby and had auburn hair that had been forced into thick ringlets. He was pretty sure her name was Rhubarb…or was it Ruth?

"You know EXACTLY who I am talking about!" he snapped.

"My Liege," The Lady Laea purred "We are simply awaiting the Duke to fit the slipper to one of my daughters. Why don't you accompany us to the drawing room? My Eldest, Annelise shall be down shortly."

"That would be-" Derrick started

"-A marvelous idea." The Duke finished for him, shooting the Prince a dark look as they followed the two women into the drawing room.

"But mother!" Rita…Rhonda (what WAS her name?) exclaimed sweetly. Why not right here in the front hall on the chair there?"

It was like they had rehearsed it (Which they probably had) Annelise entered and stood demurely, eyes downcast an all collected-looking. However, Prince Derrick thought he saw a tear slip down her cheek but couldn't be sure. She sat down first and slipped one of her feet out of one of her own shoes and extended it. The Duke placed it on delicately but it would not fit, nor would she let it. The girl spread out her toes and made every effort to make her foot bigger. Finally the Duke gave up and the pale sister rose to her feet and stood in a corner defiantly.

Now it was R-…the other sister's turn. She limped a little over to the chair and sat down awkwardly ready to place her foot in when suddenly… …


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_A.N: Ok, here is a nice long, action-packed chapter and after this, only one more to go! So the usual request, review please, and don't be afraid to leave suggestions on how to improve as well. Oh yeah, I know on the ninth chapter it said Chapter 10, that was a mistake on my part, sorry._

_Also, to __Ceridwen Inari: (He he he) You thought she was reckless before, wait until you read this chapter!_

I raced down the stairs as fast as I could (oh okay I slid down the banisters too) Never before had I noticed just how long and many those flights were from the ground floor to the attic. Finally I reached the last two and was over-looking Ruby about to try on the slipper. I looked around for something, ANYTHING to help me out. I had to make an entrance and quickly! Ella appeared a few flights above me.

"What's happening?" She called down.

"Ruby's about to try on the slipper, and I think she's done something to her foot to make it smaller!" I replied then looking around at the chandelier an idea popped into my head. It was crazy, and COMPLETELY suicidal, but hey it was an idea! What an entrance that would make too! It would certainly stall for time!

"God I hope I'm crazy." I said aloud.

"Why?" Ella asked apprehensively.

"Because if I wasn't…" I started to reply as I climbed onto the railing and shakily stood, "There's no way this would ever work!" With that I jumped, grabbed hold of the Chandelier and swung.

"LOOOK OOUUTTT!" I yelled as the Chandelier pulled slightly and swung down with me. However, instead of ripping out of the ceiling like I expected it to it stopped about 6 feet or so from the ground with me still hanging from it.

"Well that was disappointing." I stated, then turned my head towards the Grand Duke "Hey you might want to hire the architect who built this thing-you know, for your castle." Everyone in the room was dumbstruck. No really, they were. Everyone was standing still with their mouths gaping and the most hilarious look on their faces. The Duke's ridiculous toupee was askew and Madame's hair was falling out of place and one of Ruby's earrings was coming out.

Derrick was the first to recover. He grinned and clapped, chuckling slightly. Letting go I fell to the floor lightly in a crouched position then straightened, doing a mock bow.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance." Derrick chuckled.

'Thank-you." I replied with a grin before returning my attention to the task at hand. "Yeah, uh you know that thing won't fit on her, and she wasn't at the ball with a mask."

"How would you know?" Ruby snapped

"Because everyone here, with the exception of the Duke, knows who it _really_ was." For a moment the Crown official looked confused, then the realization dawned on him and he smiled warmly at me.

'Oh my dear, if it was you, why did you not come forth?" he said kindly. Okay, WRONG realization, but on the right track.

'Eww…and wear one of those tents? I don't think so. But close!" I coughed a little to clear my throat and then with a flourish of my hand toward the staircase said in an imitation of the Crier

"May I present the mystery Belle of the Ball…uh…Cinderella! Otherwise known as Eleanor."

Unfortunately this didn't produce the reaction I had hoped. The pompous idiot laughed.

"A scullery maid? Or a stable girl? Quite ridiculous both of you!" he croaked, tears streaming from his eyes. Stepmother stepped in at this point.

"Yes, I'm afraid these two are quite confused. I keep them here out of good-will. You see they are quite the head-cases…"

'You're the one who's a head-case! Go on Ruby, Let's see what she's done to your foot!" To my surprise, she actually did what I said and lifted her skirt a little. Everyone leapt back with a gasp (Ella and Annelise) or (in some cases) an "Oh My God!" (Namely The Duke) and "Ughh!" (Me and Derrick.)

**A.N I'm leaving you to your own imaginations to come up with the gory details if you want, but the idea comes from one of the earliest Cinderella stories which involved the step-sisters severing and "pairing" parts of their foot. Yeah. Not exactly the stuff you want to send a little kid to bed with now-a-days. Needless to say poor Ruby will not be doing any more graceful dancing. **

Anyhow, you get the picture.

However, leave it to the snobby nobility of our Kingdom to completely miss the point.

"Well" The Duke huffed. "I'm sure the girl's mother had her best interests at heart. Come now Prince Derrick, we'll be on our way." Everyone, at least the sensible people, in the room were flabbergasted. However, yours truly _always_ has something to say…

"Excuse me?" I asked, eyes wide with disbelief, "Best interests at heart? She MUTILATED her kid's foot! And you are just going to WALK AWAY?! And what about Ella? It's **her** slipper!"

"I'm afraid there has been some mistake. No Scullery maid shall EVER marry a Prince of this realm! There is absolutely no chance that she ever came within 10 feet of the gate, much less the prince."

"Uh, yeah there is! I was there!" I shot back.

"A likely story…"

'Yes, a true one. Ask him." I jerked a thumb at my own Prince Charming. Derrick nodded.

"It's true. She was."

"Well I'm afraid it's completely out of the question. You have no proof. And now I shall be on my way." The little man said indignantly. Oh but there wasn't a chance he was getting away so easily. I NEVER back down from a fight (_whether it is verbal or otherwise_) In one quick motion I snatched the Slipper off from the ridiculous silk pillow his attendant had it on and twirled it by the heel around my finger, taking a few steps back and climbed onto a little table underneath a giant Portrait of His Majesty. (_Which Madame had only hung up __**yesterday**_)

Needless to say this prompted a very satisfying reaction.

A couple of people lunged for it; however, they didn't get it. Looking up at the stairs, Ella was halfway down by now; I winked at her and took the slipper into a loose grip, ready to drop it.

Now here's a twist for you.

Just as I was about to drop it Prince Conrad came in. When he saw the precious shoe dangling precariously in my loose grip his eyes widened and he dove for me shouting "NOOOO!" (_If you want to put anything in slow-motion in your head that would be a good part_)

Unfortunately for Prince Charming, he didn't get there in time. As soon as I saw him move I smashed the little glass shoe against the portrait frame. I shrugged and said innocently

"It broke! I mean come on! It was bound to happen, who designed those things anyway? Talk about FRAGILE!" He ignored me. Instead he started blubbering over the shards of the slipper. I looked up at my sister and pointed to him wit my thumb, my expression screaming 'and you want THIS guy???' No seriously. It was pathetic the way he cried over that slipper. I guess some would find it romantic. Personally, I find it very impractical! (_Buddy, there's more then just one way to identify a person!_) Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Get up you blubbering idio-I mean your highness. You still have a chance at finding your girl." By this time Ella had made it down the stairs.

"Your highness, please do not despair." She said softly. The prince tensed at the sound of her voice and looked around hopefully.

"You see," Ella continued, "I have the other slipper." She said as she produced the second shoe.

Prince Conrad seemed to be in a daze as he took the glass footwear in one hand and Ella's hand in the other and led her over to the little chair. He then knelt down on one knee and carefully put the delicate little shoe on his loved one's delicate little foot.

Well Of course it fit perfectly.

Just then a dazzling light appeared in the center of the room that sent out tendrils of more light to envelope both me and my sister. After the light dimmed to a level that wouldn't blind on contact, Ella was in her most beautiful gown yet;

It was close fitting, but not overly so and had long, off-the-shoulder sleeves and was literally sparkling. I think Lucinda (I mean come on, who else would it be?) had given her a dress with little diamonds sewn right in. The dress itself was a shimmering silver with gold lace down on the skirt, ruby-red around the bodice and sleeves and amethyst along the hem. Her hair was styled quite nicely too in an intricately braided bun with a short ponytail coming out of that to hang down her neck. She was also wearing a gold necklace with a large sapphire in the center and matching earrings. To finish the "ensemble" (or whatever it's called) she had a mask in one hand.

And me? Actually, I liked this better. Instead of being in another fancy-shmancy uniform, I was in good quality, non-patched, emerald green breeches, black, knee-high leather riding boots and a dark blue, almost blouse-like high necked tunic with a broach at the center of the neck. Since my hair is considerably shorter than my sister's it was just loose and kind of hung about my shoulders in curls (oh well. I guess they had to "beautify" me a LITTLE bit.)

And of course Lucinda was there too, smiling calmly and sweetly.

Ella looked up at her prince with a shy smile as she moved her mask over her eyes, peeking up through the eye-holes. Upon this conformation that it was indeed his elusive sweetheart Conrad lifted her into the air by the waist and spun her around, putting her down to plant a kiss on her lips.

"Aww, aren't they cute?" I said to Derrick. However, he didn't seem to be paying much attention to them. Instead he was looking at…well…me!

"Yeah, yeah they are. Uh…wow. You look…great!" he stammered, though him being who he is he recovered quickly. "Hey, what's with her?" he asked pointing to Stepmother.

She was seething…no really. I'm serious. Her face was contorted, her hair askew and her expression was of pure hatred and directed straight at Ella and Conrad.

"You Ungrateful little CHIT!" she screeched, advancing on the well-dressed, happy couple. Was it me, or was she changing? Then she started sparking lightening from her hair.

Figuring out that his love was in danger Conrad stepped in front of Ella protectively and then I jumped in front of him. It was then that I realized something else that was in my new clothes-A sword. Unfortunately guess who hasn't been keeping up on her weapons lessons. Oh well! It was still sharp, pointy and dangerous, and it was going to be used if need be! It was a good thing it didn't need to be.

Lucinda suddenly stepped forward.

"Lynette? Is that you?" she asked.

"You know her?!" Several people exclaimed at once.

"Yes." The Fairy replied, never taking her eyes off Stepmother. "Yes, she's an enchantress too, an ex-classmate in fact. But she was stripped of her powers and eternal life and banished for her inappropriate and evil use of her abilities."

"They were MY powers! You had no right to take them away!" Stepmother shrieked

"It could have been temporary." Lucinda argued. "But you kept on repeating the same evils. That was 20 years ago! All your classmates graduated, it's too late now unfortunately. The loss of your eternal youth has already begun to show and you have still not redeemed yourself."

"What are you going to do about it?" Stepmother cackled evilly. For a moment our Godmother was silent as she surveyed the room.

'We will care for your youngest and heal the injury you have given her. Then you shall be sent back for a trial. Farewell Lynette." Then she waved her wand and Poof two very strange little creatures appeared and carried Madame off and then another two came to assist Ruby. For several minutes everyone was too stunned to move or speak.

"Well." I said breaking the silence. "That was…really random actually. You know, just a thought here, but maybe a little 4-1-1 on the witch thing would be useful in the future?" I stated. Lucinda smiled infuriatingly.

"I am sorry. I did not realize who it was in here. It was sort of a need-to-know basis on my part."

"Oh well, since it's your first job I guess we could cut you some slack." I said with a smile. That said we turned our attention beck to the happy couple. Conrad had just gotten down on one knee and was holding out a finely carved silver box.

Three Guesses as to what happened next.

So to be cheap I'll skip ahead two weeks to the joyous day. Finally Ella and her Prince were married. It was wonderful to be a part of (I even crammed into a dress to be the maid of honor, am I a good sister or what?) and yet, SO stressful. There were three attempts on the cake, two on the dress, and about 20 people who tried to nick front row invitations when they weren't supposed to have them. Yet despite all that, it went perfectly. Ella's dress was gorgeous, the cake delicious, everyone was nice and charming etc, etc.

However, you will never guess what happened after the Love Birds rode off in their carriage to their honeymoon. I was standing amongst the crowd waving them off until we could no longer see the carriage. The pit of my stomach ached. I had never been away from my twin for more than a day or two even if we were very independent and almost complete opposites. I would miss her. Conrad had offered me a place at Court, but I'd turned him down. I would go crazy within hours just from the giggling, gossiping females and the arrogant, egotistical males. However, I was surprised to find someone taking my hand and leading me to the garden.

"Derrick…" I asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"

"I have something to ask you." He replied, leading me to one of the benches near one of the fountains and sat down with me on it.

"Listen…we're friends, right-at least I hope we are…"

"We are." I said reassuringly.

"Well, I was hoping we were more than just...friends?" He asked hopefully. I smiled

"If you are asking me whether I love you, the answer is…"


	11. Epilogue

_**A.N: To start off, at the end of this chapter will be a tribute to all my fabulous reviewers because yes this is the last chapter, unless at some point I am really bored and decide to write another "epilogue" or something, though that is unlikely. **_

_**Anyway, I realized after reading over the last chapter that the rushed wedding scene neglected to mention a couple of details and explain a few things (ie. Derricks odd and almost Conradish behavior) Don't worry I will start this chapter off a little bit behind where I left off and fill in a few details. **_

_**Now, here we go…**_

Epilogue

Derrick

Prince Derrick was cordial and polite at the ceremony. In fact, Conrad had made him the best man! All through the ceremony he had been thinking. Throughout his whole life he's been told that he would marry, preferably at a young age and he had always resented that and rebelled against the idea. Mind you, that had been before he met Chrys.

Well, maybe that wasn't quite true. When he had first met her, she was so intriguing and refreshing and just so…so wonderfully different to all the court beauties that he'd enjoyed the change when in her company. However, that had not lasted long. The more he had talked with her and gotten to know her, the more he kept thinking about her. And by the 3rd ball, he was certain that he was in love with her. Now all he could think about was her. How embarrassing! Even in his thoughts he was starting to sound like his cousin!

His parents should be happy enough about it, this would join the two kingdoms even more firmly, and Chrystal _would_ make an excellent queen, not to mention that she was just the sort of girl his mother had been secretly hoping for. It was obvious that she was a leader and people looked up to her, even the common folk liked her! But Derrick was nervous. He had never felt like this before, oh he'd had crushes, but not like this!

It didn't help watching Annelise and her blacksmith together. They would be married within the month's end. So after finally catching her relatively out of a crowd, he pulled her aside into the gardens where they could be alone.

Then to his disgust, he had started babbling.

Chrys

… "Derrick…" I asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"

"I have something to ask you." He replied, leading me to one of the benches near one of the fountains and sat down with me on it.

"Listen…we're friends, right-at least I hope we are…"

"We are." I said reassuringly.

"Well, I was hoping we were more than just...friends?" He asked hopefully. I smiled

"If you are asking me whether I love you, the answer is…"

I could see he waited with bated breath. I was glad I thought about this earlier, I wouldn't have to take too long to answer. All through the night before the wedding when I had talked with Ella about her pre-wedding jitters somehow I ended up finally going to bed with thoughts of this guy on my mind. Finally I answered.

"…Yes. I do love you." He seemed stunned at this, though a happy sort of stunned. Then (of all the things to be!) he got SUSPICIOUS

"You aren't playing with me are you?" he asked

"What?!"

"Well there are so MANY kinds of love aren't there?" he continued as we both got to our feet and glared at each other "Platonic love, brotherly love, romantic love blah, blah, blah!"

"You are incorrigible!" I snapped

"So are you!" he shot back "So do I get to know which kind of affection you hold for me or will you make me figure it ou-" he was cu off as I grabbed his ears, pulled his head down to my level and kissed him. Yes, on the mouth. He responded to it after his initial moment of shock. When we broke it I looked up at him.

"That answer your question?" I asked with a smile. He grinned back.

"Yes!" He laughed, then composed himself. "But I have another one for you to answer" he said as he took out a small box, got down on one knee and then opened it to reveal a ring.

"Will you marry me?"

This time, I was the one who was lost for words. Yes, a first! ME lost for words! However, finally I answered.

"No." I said plainly, though not harshly. He seemed very…surprised.

"No?" he repeated "But you just said-"

"And I meant it." I reassured him. "But I am only 17 years old; I'm not ready to settle down. I want to see the world! Go on adventures, meet new people learn new things! I have been stuck in that manor all my life and I've _hated_ it. Besides, it isn't like you have to have everything figured out by the time you're 20! That life might be for Ella, but not for me. Not yet anyway." I told him. "Sorry?" I finished.

Actually, his reaction was different from what I expected. He smiled a little and shook his head.

"You know," he told me, "I guess I should have expected that. That's the way you are. And I wouldn't love you or have you any other way. So, where are you planning to go?"

"I was talking with Lucinda, she reckons I could even go into the hero business if I wanted." I said

"Isn't that usually rescuing damsels and slaying dragons?" he asked

"Who says I actually have to KILL the dragons? From what I hear they're just misunderstood. Besides, don't mean it's traditionally a male role?" I challenged. He couldn't win this argument and he knew it!

"Since when has tradition ever stopped you?" Coward. He wasn't even going to attempt the verbal battle. Yet, despite that I grinned and we started talking about my plans.

Three days later I had Starlight saddled, packed and ready to go with Lightening on one gauntleted hand and Angel in a saddle bag. (_She's actually a bit on the small side of a collie and is very light and nimble. That combined with Starlight's large size and strength, it was no problem_.) My good-byes had been said, all but one who was saying it now. I launched the hawk into the air and turned to face him.

"Hey, be careful out there. I want you back in one piece." Derrick said gently as he took me into a hug.

"Who says I'm yours?" I retorted, though I hugged him back(he's _mine and he knows it, though maybe it's a bit of both_) However, the moment was ended as Lightening schreeched up ahead, Angel barked and Starlight pawed the ground.

"I'm coming!" I told them impatiently before turning back to Derrick. "I'll write at the first chance I get. See you at midwinter? I'll be coming here to celebrate with Ella and Conrad."

"Count on it." He said. He insisted on giving me a leg up and for once I accepted this act of chivalry (_hey I'm a runt and my horse is HUGE! Give me a break!)_

"You sure you don't want to come along? It could be fun." I prompted, hoping he would accept, but not really expecting him to be able to.

"Nah." he replied with a wave of his hand "Though, if you decide to go looking for water-dragons, count me in!"

"It's a date then" I grinned as I wheeled Starlight around.

However, just as I was about to ride away, he called my name and tossed me a box. In it was a broach, with a familiar stone set into it. I looked back with confusion at first and then with a smile as it dawned on me what it meant and I put it on the collar of the outfit that Lucinda had given me that wonderful day. Then with a final wave, I wheeled Starlight around and galloped off into the sunset. Oh alright, it was early morning and the sun was just RISING.

As I began my journey I realized, hey, this symbolic…ness(?) was so incredibly ironic! After all, It was the Dawn of a new Day: for all of us. (_MY Cheesy line, leave it!)_

The END

Or is it?

**A.N: Yes, this story is finally finished. I tried to make the ending something a little bit different, and maybe set it up for a sequel if anyone is interested (_Hint Hint, review and let me know, I have actually got one started...)_And Now I would just like to take this space to thank all my spectacular, wonderful, amazing, totally cool (_okay you get the point, I love ya_) reviewers for their comments and support.**

**Now to**

**_Crediwen Inari_: Thanky you so much for sticking with me throughout the story, you know you were my first reviewer? I really appreciated the suggestions and I hope I got the kinks out by the end! Oh and as to the last comment about the chandelier, Yeah I know, not exactly likely, but this is technically a fairytale and I thought it would make and amusing/dramatic scene. Inspiration came from various movies and commercials.**

**_zEthHPfrEak_: I'm gald you enjoyed it and loved all your reviews! I'm glad I could make you laugh. It really is the nicest thing you can do for an aauthor is let them know that a) you read the story and b) what you thought of it. **

**_lilsnobby_: I _knew_ I could get people by making the damsel in distress smart too! Its a good, if subtle twist no? Also, Annelise's problem was that she didn't want COnrad, she wanted her blacksmith. Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing. **

**_maximumtrouble10, bookcrazygirl and sweetdreamfantasy_: I hope you had a good time reading this story, hope that you didn;t mind the cliffys too much. **

**Thanks again to all who reviewed! But, now I want a couple more because I'm going to ask you guys ;**

**Does anyone want a sequel?**


	12. Author's Recent note

Okay, here is a note to you wonderful readers.

Due to (dare I say) popular demand, namely several reviews that I have gotten recently, there will be a Sequel to this story coming soon. It might involve:

a) Some look-alike confusion,

b) a whole slew of bratty damsels-in-distress

c) some characters who are not what they seem

d) witty romance

e) a combination (not nessecarily of all)

This story will probably become my next "project" after I am finished my Wicked Fic "Gathering Storm", which still has a few chapters left, though not many. Now, first chapter of this fic is written already, but not too much after that so I need to keep working on it.

A word to you readers though. I actually posted this a few days after I finished posting the original (which I think was the main mistake) but few people read it and even fewer reviewed so I deleted it. The continuation of this particular story will take feedback and readers, mainly because I'm having trouble with writers block. But I thank Sakina-chan for their comments, I might actually use some of those ideas, in which case I give you credit.

Oh, and the title of this story will simply be _Alternate Fairytales, _at least for now. I'm also considering _Life and Times of the Alternate Fairytale Heroine _or maybe _How to be Practical in a Fairy Tale_. Any which way, though, the first line in the summary will be "Sequel to Another Alternate Cinderella" so You'll probably find it when it goes up there


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